its one of THE BEST compact camera's ever produced.. An inovation at the time & a CLASSIC right now..
I've had mine since it was launched & it is still used today... The IQ after all these years still beats that of most compacts made today.. (and i own a few of these)
I've owned the F30 since it was first released. It is starting to not read memory cards anymore, so I bought the F200EXR to replace the F30.
Simply put...the F30 produces better images, particularly at high sensitivities. On the other hand, the F200EXR's wider lens, sensor-shift stabilization and slightly expanded control makes for a much more versatile camera.
Hey, I just got handed someone else's FinePix F31, a cable and a software disk. I've spent a half an hour installing the software and it still doesn't see the camera when hooked up with USB. All the software directs me to do is sign up and order prints through Fuji. There doesn't seem to be any instructions on how to just get pictures (I assume regular jpg images) out of this camera.
None of the cameras in it's class come close to it. Yes, there are few problems there but overall it is still the best compact camera. As far as what I have seen the photo sample and also the reviews, this is indeed the best in its class.
Also, the delete speed on the F30 is horrendous. Regardless of what speed XD card is used, it can take about 3 times longer to delete a single image than on the F10. And the F10 was a tad slow on that to begin with. The F30 is intolerable in this regard.
Image quality is horrendous compared to the earlier F10. The F10 lets you adjust the ISO arbitarily, but the F30 doesn't. Even in bright light, dark areas are loaded with purple noise, regardless of the ISO setting. Forums online savaged this lousy camera.
Many upgraded from the F10 to the F30 based upon the F10's record and Fuji's promises.
Anyone who thinks this is one of the best of it's class shouldn't do reviews.
Sorry to hear you feel this way, but you'll find most reviewers and members of many forums found the F30 and F31fd were actually the best in class for noise levels. I agree xD is slow though. But of course we're discussing a very old camera here in digital terms. My review of it here is over two years old.
If they thought the F30 best in class for noise, it makes me think they never saw the F10 or other cams! And the XD card wasn't the problem, the same cards perform MUCH faster in the older F10. Your review is off regardless of how old it is. The F30 is crap and comments from users in online forums confirm it. Fuji went astray after the F10.
Well we're both entitled to our opinions, and I stand by mine as someone who's professionally compared and tested cameras for over 16 years. Anyway, again, it's an old model, so it seems odd to suddenly start slagging it off now. Maybe two years ago, but since it's no longer on sale it's more useful to discuss models that are.
My opinions have lots of purple pixel noise to back them up, as do hundreds of other users. Yes it's now an old cam, but had i seen your review 2 years ago it would not have stopped me from buying the F30. It is the obligation of every F30 user to denounce this camera. They're still for sale you know.
Thanks! It was just a brief mention in the review, saying it had an underwater housing. I'm sure there'd be many people, myself included, who'd be interested to hear about your underwater experiences with it and the housing in the cameralabs . com forums...
Thanks for the response on the last question. What about video editors? I've tried a few programs and all the AVI files that I try and load into an editor to adjust brightness levels and such comes up with an error. "AVI not supported" or something similar, for Premiere and Vegas 7. What would I be able to use as a video editor?
Is there a way to attach a 3rd party mic to the F30? The mic isn't the *best* quality, I'm looking for something a little better. If I could plug a separate one in that would be great. Any ideas?
Is the F31fd the best baby-camera due to its low light superb quality?
I mean ,
I know that it might well be , but the zoom range is so boring.
I have to buy a camera so that I will shoot 100 pics per hour at the baby that will soon come, but I still don´t know if I should rather go for a more versatile lumix tz3 .
Hi cyberfranz - the F30 has better performance in low light than the TZ3, but as you say, only a 3x zoom, so it depends how bright your room will be! It's a good question though and perfect for the Cameralabs forum if you'd like to post it there for more to see. Cheers!
Hi tmbutler - I think we've already spoken on the Cameralabs forums! The video mode is very good, although like all digital cameras, the video quality isn't quite up to a camcorder, and the sound is much worse. This is the same for all digital camera movie modes though. If you value widescreen video, you might also want to check a Panasonic compact. I suggest trying it in a shop with your own memory card, to see if the quality is good enough for what you want.
hey, gordon...I just got myself the F31 FD and am really happy with the camera..but the one thing that im curious is about the setting of the ISO level when im using the Automatic mode...it seems that the ISO level is constantly set to 1600 and couldn't be changed. Is it suppose to be like that?or it actually could be changed?
Hi Freetobecrazy, congrats on your F31fd! Does the face detection work well? I've not tested the F31fd, but if it works the same way as the F30, the Auto 1600 mode just means the camera automatically selects the sensitivity, but won't go higher than 1600. Similarly, the Auto 400 mode restricts the maximum to 400 ISO to avoid any noisy surprises!
PS - sorry it's taken a while to respond. For a quicker response from me, it's better to post questions in the forum at the Cameralabs website!
Does it possess the anti shake/ image stabilization function?...F30 one of the best cams i think but im juz curious bout the availablity of that function.
Hi Freetobecrazy, the F30 doesnt have optical stabilisation like the Panasonic cameras, but it does have a mode which turns up the sensitivity to allow faster exposures and avoid camera shake. Increasing the sensitivity does reduce the picture quality, but as youll see in the review at Camera Labs, its not too bad.
LINK amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B005QKE26M/electronic-uk-cat-21
Product Description
Fujifilm JX350
Fujifilm FinePix JX350; 16.0 MP; Compact; 1/0.906 cm (1/2.3 ); CCD; 4608 x 3440 pixels; L: (4:3) 4608 x 3440 (3:2) 4608 x 3072 (16:9) 4608 x 2592 M: (4:3) 3264 x 2448Alluring Photos; Powerful HD- Fujinon 5x Optical Zoom Lens & 16 Megapixels- Highly Regarded by Professionals ...
For more details please copy the Amazon link above in your browser
GloverJack5476 1 day ago
I bought this f30 3years ago & it's still captures nice pics...love it. I made a right decision buying this compact cam.
mpatilano 4 weeks ago
I used to have one of these... Oh how things have come on in the last few years! This was a great camera in it's time though.
AirbusTD 2 months ago
its one of THE BEST compact camera's ever produced.. An inovation at the time & a CLASSIC right now..
I've had mine since it was launched & it is still used today... The IQ after all these years still beats that of most compacts made today.. (and i own a few of these)
Its a legend !!
moonboots69 1 year ago 2
I've owned the F30 since it was first released. It is starting to not read memory cards anymore, so I bought the F200EXR to replace the F30.
Simply put...the F30 produces better images, particularly at high sensitivities. On the other hand, the F200EXR's wider lens, sensor-shift stabilization and slightly expanded control makes for a much more versatile camera.
stvkrenim 2 years ago
Hey, I just got handed someone else's FinePix F31, a cable and a software disk. I've spent a half an hour installing the software and it still doesn't see the camera when hooked up with USB. All the software directs me to do is sign up and order prints through Fuji. There doesn't seem to be any instructions on how to just get pictures (I assume regular jpg images) out of this camera.
tfproducer 2 years ago
None of the cameras in it's class come close to it. Yes, there are few problems there but overall it is still the best compact camera. As far as what I have seen the photo sample and also the reviews, this is indeed the best in its class.
inepali 2 years ago
Also, the delete speed on the F30 is horrendous. Regardless of what speed XD card is used, it can take about 3 times longer to delete a single image than on the F10. And the F10 was a tad slow on that to begin with. The F30 is intolerable in this regard.
SaganAppreciationSoc 3 years ago
"The manual mode is a fully-automatic mode."
-From the F30 manual
Image quality is horrendous compared to the earlier F10. The F10 lets you adjust the ISO arbitarily, but the F30 doesn't. Even in bright light, dark areas are loaded with purple noise, regardless of the ISO setting. Forums online savaged this lousy camera.
Many upgraded from the F10 to the F30 based upon the F10's record and Fuji's promises.
Anyone who thinks this is one of the best of it's class shouldn't do reviews.
SaganAppreciationSoc 3 years ago
Sorry to hear you feel this way, but you'll find most reviewers and members of many forums found the F30 and F31fd were actually the best in class for noise levels. I agree xD is slow though. But of course we're discussing a very old camera here in digital terms. My review of it here is over two years old.
cameralabs 3 years ago
If they thought the F30 best in class for noise, it makes me think they never saw the F10 or other cams! And the XD card wasn't the problem, the same cards perform MUCH faster in the older F10. Your review is off regardless of how old it is. The F30 is crap and comments from users in online forums confirm it. Fuji went astray after the F10.
SaganAppreciationSoc 3 years ago
Well we're both entitled to our opinions, and I stand by mine as someone who's professionally compared and tested cameras for over 16 years. Anyway, again, it's an old model, so it seems odd to suddenly start slagging it off now. Maybe two years ago, but since it's no longer on sale it's more useful to discuss models that are.
cameralabs 3 years ago
My opinions have lots of purple pixel noise to back them up, as do hundreds of other users. Yes it's now an old cam, but had i seen your review 2 years ago it would not have stopped me from buying the F30. It is the obligation of every F30 user to denounce this camera. They're still for sale you know.
SaganAppreciationSoc 3 years ago
Failed to mention the awsome underwater housing. ISO of 3200 and the 40m housing makes it a perfect budget camera for divers!
furstyferret81 3 years ago
Failed to read the review which goes with the video at cameralabs . com!
cameralabs 3 years ago
Well your vids are quality so i think i might just check it out!
furstyferret81 3 years ago
Thanks! It was just a brief mention in the review, saying it had an underwater housing. I'm sure there'd be many people, myself included, who'd be interested to hear about your underwater experiences with it and the housing in the cameralabs . com forums...
cameralabs 3 years ago
Thanks for the response on the last question. What about video editors? I've tried a few programs and all the AVI files that I try and load into an editor to adjust brightness levels and such comes up with an error. "AVI not supported" or something similar, for Premiere and Vegas 7. What would I be able to use as a video editor?
Thanks!
masterfly 3 years ago
I'm sorry, I don't know! Have you tried Windows Movie Maker?
cameralabs 3 years ago
That actually does work, I never thought to try it. Really bad editor, at least it works. Thank you.
masterfly 3 years ago
I'm not sure if this is relevant to you, but Sony Vegas 8 also allows editing of this camera's raw files. Highly improved over Movie Maker.
masterfly 3 years ago
I use windows movie maker with mine. Very simple drag and drop interface and free as far as i'm aware.
furstyferret81 3 years ago
Is there a way to attach a 3rd party mic to the F30? The mic isn't the *best* quality, I'm looking for something a little better. If I could plug a separate one in that would be great. Any ideas?
masterfly 3 years ago
I don't think that's possible with any still camera - sorry!
cameralabs 3 years ago
Is the F31fd the best baby-camera due to its low light superb quality?
I mean ,
I know that it might well be , but the zoom range is so boring.
I have to buy a camera so that I will shoot 100 pics per hour at the baby that will soon come, but I still don´t know if I should rather go for a more versatile lumix tz3 .
Any suggestion?
Thanx
cyberfranz 4 years ago
Hi cyberfranz - the F30 has better performance in low light than the TZ3, but as you say, only a 3x zoom, so it depends how bright your room will be! It's a good question though and perfect for the Cameralabs forum if you'd like to post it there for more to see. Cheers!
cameralabs 4 years ago
already did, thanks!
cyberfranz 4 years ago
the man is very good, the camera is very bad, at least compared to the Sony T30.
emokhtar 4 years ago
Great review! submitted to our review website.
digicams(dot)com
CuteLolitas 4 years ago
cheers for such a mint website, i'm going there now just to click on all of the pricegrabber boxes, so you get some extra cash,
vqj58h 5 years ago
Hi, what is the quality like in video mode? I'm looking for a compact to also use for short movies, with a decent quality sound. Thanks
tmbutler 5 years ago
Hi tmbutler - I think we've already spoken on the Cameralabs forums! The video mode is very good, although like all digital cameras, the video quality isn't quite up to a camcorder, and the sound is much worse. This is the same for all digital camera movie modes though. If you value widescreen video, you might also want to check a Panasonic compact. I suggest trying it in a shop with your own memory card, to see if the quality is good enough for what you want.
cameralabs 5 years ago
hey, gordon...I just got myself the F31 FD and am really happy with the camera..but the one thing that im curious is about the setting of the ISO level when im using the Automatic mode...it seems that the ISO level is constantly set to 1600 and couldn't be changed. Is it suppose to be like that?or it actually could be changed?
Freetobecrazy 5 years ago
Hi Freetobecrazy, congrats on your F31fd! Does the face detection work well? I've not tested the F31fd, but if it works the same way as the F30, the Auto 1600 mode just means the camera automatically selects the sensitivity, but won't go higher than 1600. Similarly, the Auto 400 mode restricts the maximum to 400 ISO to avoid any noisy surprises!
PS - sorry it's taken a while to respond. For a quicker response from me, it's better to post questions in the forum at the Cameralabs website!
cameralabs 5 years ago
Does it possess the anti shake/ image stabilization function?...F30 one of the best cams i think but im juz curious bout the availablity of that function.
Freetobecrazy 5 years ago
Hi Freetobecrazy, the F30 doesnt have optical stabilisation like the Panasonic cameras, but it does have a mode which turns up the sensitivity to allow faster exposures and avoid camera shake. Increasing the sensitivity does reduce the picture quality, but as youll see in the review at Camera Labs, its not too bad.
cameralabs 5 years ago
being a huge camera fan i'm always looking forward for your video reviews.. gogo gordan laine! cheers for the great concept you have..
prozac88 5 years ago
great help finding the right camera for me
bunginggg 5 years ago